I could get used to these ones
Mine this week was yet another garden party. A joint 60th in an absolutely gorgeous setting and finishing at 11pm.
As an added bonus - it was to be 80s themed so it's a trip for the Retro show. Got there to find I'm not going to be where I was originally supposed to be due to the heat, and so put in a small corner of the patio. OK, that saves lugging half the retro gear from the van.....just four screens and a set of PARs it is. I also left the EV50s in the van in favour of the Maui5Go's. Not for the first time this year, they well and truly proved their worth in this sort of situation without having to go anywhere near pushing them.
Much of the night was chillout. The guests ate, drank, chatted, sat around on the lawns. Plenty of compliments came my way.
To be fair, with the weather we've had this past week, dancing wasn't expected by me or the customer...especially in a South facing garden. And then it got dark, the booze kicked in, and we're off and running.
Not huge numbers in front of me, but several small gatherings could be seen shaking their thing in various parts of the garden. All in all a good night with a very happy customer and unlike recent weeks, nice to be outside as the night air cooled rather than dripping in sweat in a barn or similar.
Against all odds........................
Matthew Western and I were at his residency on Saturday, and my ( upstairs ) venue was sweltering. His had been chilled by the aircon all day. On balance, I won, cos I could get in a 4.30 for a 7pm start, while Matthew wasn't granted access till 6.20pm. I'd have had an attack of the vapours under those circumstances.
As often happens, there was a dialogue as to how our functions were progressing, and despite a very promising music policy at mine, 95% of the guests were firmly glued to their seats, bar one table. Basically, mine wanted EDM and Cheese, although Matthew won the cheese battle by having Oops requested about ten minutes into his gig!
Venue duty manager was convinced that both functions although having a planned 1am finish, would be over well before midnight, and guess what?
Both of us were still playing music at 12.50am. And what else?
We both got handshakes, congratulations, and applause for being " great ".
It's a funny old game.
At least give us a chance/Please don't electrocute me!
Friday:
I'm covering a few gigs for a multi-op in the West Riding. That's not a problem, I'm not racist, and at least it's still in God's county. :D
Most of them are notable for less than ideal access, and Friday's promised to be similar. I voiced these concerns, and was told that a local DJ had said it was very decent access, ten yards through the front door, and the stage is on your right.
Well that was the truth.
It just wasn't the whole truth. :(
There's a car park next door, but it doesn't have direct access to the venue. Not a problem, because I have a trolley, and the venue had a ramp. I'm not above trolleying the kit a few extra yards. But: :eek:
What did the sign in the car park say ? :confused::confused: It wasn't helpful.
NO TRANSITS!
It then listed various other categories of vehicles which were banned, ending up with " no commercial vehicles ", just in case you had a Vivaro, not a Transit. Not looking good for me. I stuck 60p in the meter, and a ticket in the window, and went into the venue.
They were absolutely lovely, and had obviously played this game before. Out came a residents parking pass to alow me to park outside the venue, if I could find a space.
Long story short, after an abortive attempt to get into a space which was far too small, I was lucky enough to sneak into a space vacated by someone, and I had two inches to spare before the white lines at the front, and about the same from the £160k Audi behind me!
The gig? 50th birthday, with a Western theme. Three and a half hours of bums welded to seats, and half an hour of a jam packed floor looking like a rave!
Saturday:
It started so well. Having been cancelled for a booking, I picked up one in Mansfield. Surprise 40th birthday party, 4 till 10. After a long drive South, in the rain, I arrived, and access was not at all bad. As is my custom, I was early, and set up by 3pm, which was good, as guests started arriving then! I was battling oppressive heat, a buffet round the corner, and a beer garden off my room. It was going well enough for about four and a half hours, and then the effects of heavy afternoon drinking started to appear. Seemingly, a necessity to only dance if you were waving a pint of something above your head. We then indulged in the well known party game of spot the beer on the dancefloor. If I see it, I stop the music, and the guests have to remove the drink from the floor. Laugh a minute. All in all, a good event, marred by me being scared witless by drinks near the kit.
I love my job. ( With caveats ).
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Imagine
Really....I do LOVE what I do.
Yes, we may play the same old choons week in, week out. We lug heavy kit around, we drive home at silly 'o' clock - but I wouldn't change it for all the tea in China!
To start, it was a slow burner. I started to feel it was going to be a long one. No first dance to tempt the assembled masses from the patio and onto my dance floor meant the first hour saw a good amount of tumbleweed go rolling across the room. Even the bar staff thought I was on a hiding to nothing.
Best bit? The van's just 5 feet behind me so getting out was a doddle and took just 15 minutes.
Apart from mine being a Garden Party for multiple Birthdays ( and ages, over 70 down to early 20s ) virtually " Snap"!
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sapphire Disco
Your post mentioning 70s to 90s music got me thinking got me thinking the job would be so much tougher and duller without it.
Agreed totally. On Saturday I was asked initially for Sylvester- You Make Me Feel Mighty Real, and that opened the floodgates for a bunch of Disco Classics.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sapphire Disco
He couldn't believe I had no idea what I was going to play when I arrived, and I sometimes change my mind on the next track as close as 20 seconds before the previous one has ended.
Amen, Brother. Me too.
OK, my gig. Take note of this, as I will be asking questions afterwards. :D
A colleague was asked to do this one, and was already booked. being fairly sure I'd be booked, he asked another chap if he could cover. The chap said yes, up until about ten days before the event, when he remembered he'd promised to do a friend's wedding, but as it was a friend, he hadn't put it in the book. Bearing in mind that I'm told he didn't fancy the gig, and loaded it price wise on that basis, there are grounds for scepticism.
Anyway, my colleague contacted me, and gave me as much info as he could, before passing my details to the customer. She was delighted to have a reliable DJ, who intended to turn up, and promised to feed and water me, as well as sticking to the somewhat inflated figure quoted by the previous lad.
I turned up to the venue, and was delighted to find I had a gazebo all to myself, which I could drive the van right up to. ( None of your five yards away Wayne, mine was less than five feet. :ner: ) I got rigged up, moved the van off the dancefloor ( patio ) and relaxed. I set off with some fairly laid back stuff, sipped my orange squash ( told you I was to be fed and watered ) and welcomed the artiste to the proceedings. Lovely lad. Once we'd had a look at his kit, I reckoned we could lash him into the Polars, and though I say so myself, it sounded very acceptable even without lots of tone controls to trim the sound.
He kicked off around the time that the food truck opened its hatch, and I was given the first offering out, a couple of lovely chicken skewers, cooked over a proper fire, served on a bed of salad, on a tortilla. Mmmm, lovely.
He did two sets, and by the time he'd finished, things were beginning to warm up. Requests began to come in, Elvis, 60's, Rat Pack, Swing, Abba, Disco and Oasis. Now in the conversation with my colleague about the event, he said that from what he'd gathered, the last hour was to be Dance, and given the ages, he expected me to be in the 90's at a minimum of 130 bpm.
Well, the best laid plans.................. As the last hour got going, I got requests for 80's, Human League, Soft Cell, Heaven 17, and the like. Hmmmm, what to kick off with? :confused: Easy: Blue Monday. The last song was Don't Look Back In Anger, and it was time for me to pack up and go home. A lovely gig, no pressure, with lovely folk, and I was treated like royalty. Quite right Wayne, I DO love this job*.
* Most of the time. :D
Another tick in the win column
I'd been looking forward to last night for a while, well since May actually when the bride got in touch because her already booked DJ fancied being elsewhere for the night (I'm getting too many of those this year).
It was a venue I really should take more work at, just half an hour from home in a stately pile with a permanent marquee in the back garden. Access is horrendous.....park the van by the back door, lug the kit a whole 10 feet to the setup area. As an additional bonus - no PA is needed. And that's also the downside to this venue....they have a sound ceiling which sounds as muddy as Shrek's swamp on the dance floor, and tinnier than a Sony Walkman at full pelt on my side of the booth. There's absolutely nothing you can do to EQ it to sound better either.
Hey ho. Back to the plot, the young lady had a field day with the online planning, hitting the 100 song limit for the night. Not a problem, it was a gift of a playlist and to be honest I'd have probably gone down the same route with this crowd. Requests were to be discouraged and the couple of times I added a couple of additional tracks because they fitted what was happening - questions were asked :lol:. Even my decision to play the Hermes House Band version of Country Roads and the Sgt Slick version of Gimme Gimme Gimme raised the question "did I ask for that" :rolleyes:
Did I say crowd? As with most weddings this year, the guest count was below 70 souls. Happily, most of them were well and truly up for a party once the sun set, the evening chill kicked in, and the booze did its thing.
A trend musically I'm noticing over here....the 90s/Britpop/Lad pop/Indie is taking a back seat for cheese (I've been asked to do YMCA and Macarena at most of my weddings this year :o), with a large and healthy side of 70s and 80s.
Got to the very strict midnight finish, chants for the Spanish relative rang out and were met with disappointment. Yes folks, I finished 45 seconds early.....deal with it! Plenty of hugs and handshakes from happy guests and a happy couple. I'd done my job and done it very well :)
Packed up and out within 20 minutes (would have been sooner had I not needed to visit the gents and also stopped to chat with the duty manager) and home an hour after the music faded out.
Now time to enjoy a small glass or five of Scottish water and look forward to next weekend's shenanigans
I really should make a living out of this job
This will surprise the Old Git, to whom I'd been having a bit of a moan when I first arrived at last night's wedding. I'm marking this one as a win :)
Nice lightweight rig with the Maui5's in tow due to the size of the room. I think those things have done more of this year's weddings than any of my other PA.
But.....
Kids.....lots and LOTS of kids, mainly under 5 and looking forward to the party before the first dance - I hadn't been warned about this bit! Now add to this that the vast majority of choonage I used to play under the guise of Capt. Chaos was on the "Do Not Play" list, and I'm looking to be in trouble. Half an hour....how hard can it be?
Actually it wasn't too bad in the end. And will be remembered by the parentals as I projected snowflakes onto the dance floor during Let It Go....plenty of photos were taken.
Right then, into the cake cutting, Father/Daughter and First Dances - all which went without a hitch......and then everyone decided the nicely kept gardens and courtyards looked like a much better bet for a cold beverage or three. Oh well, it's that time of year.
I'd been provided with a couple of hours of playlist, all very acceptable stuff mainly from the 1990s so cracked on. Dancing happened in dribs and drabs until after the buffet when I let loose on the D&B stuff on the list (urgh!). However, they liked that....a LOT. Full dance floor, requests aplenty and eventually ended up all over the place from 90s dance to Indie and just a couple of slow ones. Plenty of the Do Not Plays were requested, and denied. It was actually a nice change NOT to play the Macarena and YMCA - I worry about what appears to be a new found popularity with those :o
Finished dead on the dot of midnight, out in 15 mins and home by 1am after unloading (my storage unit is actually further from my front door than the venue is).
Time for a couple of well earned weekends off now (well...mainly to sort selling the late Father in Law's bungalow and everything else associated with managing an estate)
The next one could be a real grueller which I'm betting will be an early finish. Midday ceremony, me to be setup at the venue by 1pm and a midnight finish if it goes that far :o
Another tick in the win column
Yesterday was a long one......13 hours long to be precise.
It was a wedding sooooo laid back, it nearly fell over :lol:, There were just 4 constants....the first dance, the father/daughter dance, the fact i was being fed and watered, and the end time. All timeline information was described in just 4 words...."play it by ear".
Know what, I want MORE like this!
OK, a little stress at the start. I'd agreed to arrive to set up at noon on the understanding that as they were getting wed at noon 20 minutes away, they'd be at the venue for around half one. The other suppliers were rushing around when I arrived having been told that guests were expected from 12:30. "Don't panic Mr Mainwaring" were the first words that flew across my brain cell. i got in quickly, set up and was just about ready "just in case".
Just to add to the fun, I was also popping my photo-booth cherry on this one.
As luck would have it....I had the timings right.
Half one and guests start to arrive and settle in. My first duty is to announce the B&G into the room. I have a new "magic button" which is a bluetooth controller for the iPad and Go Button software. It'd been tested to death all week at home, and even had a quick test at the venue....perfect - I could fire off the entrance choon from the other side of the room from a little widget attached to my mic. WRONG! The button worked, but started Apple Music playing Kate Bush warbling Wuthering Heights instead of GoButton playing Stevie Wonder's Signed Sealed Delivered from 42 seconds (Oh how I wanted the floor to open and swallow me at that point). As luck would have it, the entrance song hadn't been agreed/selected, so nobody other than me actually noticed.
Afternoon food is picnic hampers provided by a company I've known for years. Yup, me and the togger got one too and it included pretty much everything needed for afternoon tea....and was much needed!
From then on, not a lot happened. There were a couple of bouncy castles outside for the million or so kids, plus they were making full use of my selfie station (lots of lessons learned including the fact that the guests will have absolutely no respect for the props and indeed....take them home! But I'm now happy to start really pushing that one as a service).
Eventually I'm asked if we can do speeches because it doesn't look like the Groom's going to be able to do his if we wait much longer. This wasn't wrong!
Stress...booze....early start....he struggled to the point his speech was delivered sitting down with the bride moving her finger along the words so he knew what to read. But my GAWD it was hilarious watching him. Most of the room (including me) were in tears.
More time passes....the hog roast arrives and sets up, and we're finally into the cake cutting and first dance. And then party time,
I honestly wasn't expecting much from the dance floor. They'd been going for 7 1/2 hours by this point and fatigue was showing. Add to this. it was obvious a lot woulld be leaving early doors due to the number of very young children and babies in attendance.
Dancing happened though. Not the amount I'm used to admittedly, but feet on the 'floor make my night. Add to this there were plenty singing and dancing at tables and I was happy. We went through everything from cheese, to rave, to indie, to rock. Nothing was off limits (see....said it was laid back).
The venue has a new rule of an 11:30pm finish due to a couple of competitors taking the wee-wee over the amount of time it takes them to pack up and get out (do others really take 90+ minutes at the end of the night?). Me, in the van by midnight and home by half twelve.
Not a bad day if I'm honest. I'm going to ache like a good-un tomorrow from so much standing but it's worth it in my book.
